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August 31, 2017

I just love the fact that I dumped 100,000 points
of Fight Money into unlocking one of the earlier Season 2 characters in Street Fighter V literally three days
before the announcement of the next character -- who then proceeded to drop two
days later. Like, I was under the
impression that I’d have more time to play, both to get used to my new choice
(Kolin) and earn at least a little money
towards the next (Menat). NOPE. Boy, do I feel like a clown.

Anyway, Street
Fighter V. It’s been out for a good
while now, and both it and Capcom have taken heat. More, and more, and more scorn has been flung
their way, to the point where -- if you go strictly by the comments sections
online -- one out of every three people hates the game. Is that a fair assessment? Well, having put some time into the game, and
with so much time passed since its 2/16/16 release date, I think I need to put
my own thoughts out there. At the end of
the day, I can only speak for myself.

Still, let me say this to start: the people that
like (or love) SFV are entirely
justified. And the people that are
disappointed in (or hate) SFV are also entirely justified.

August 28, 2017

And vice versa, maybe? It’s possible. But having put some time into Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V (and Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged)recently
-- and
all four parts of JoJo’s Bizarre
Adventure months prior to that -- it’s getting harder and harder for me
to ignore the similarities between the two.
I guess that’s to be expected when JoJo
has been around for more than thirty years and had a massive influence on
popular culture (in Japan for sure, but it’s seeping into the west). Arguably, any given Joe Blow could make a
post titled “So Pokémon is basically JoJo”, as an example. Still…boy, there are some glaring similarities.

So let’s go over a few of them. Maybe then, it won’t be as utterly mortifying
for me anyone to admit that they’re watching a show built around a
freaking card game.

August 24, 2017

By “things” I mean, of course, products in the
media and entertainment industries.
Movies, TV shows, books, music, video games -- all of that and
more. One would think, or at least hope,
that if a product is allowed to grace store shelves (physical or digital), then
it should be good enough to merit that.
The gatekeepers on all walks of entertainment should, in theory, do
their jobs and keep the trash from becoming available for purchase. Right?

But even if we overlook the business aspect of the
equation, there’s still the creative input and vision that goes behind the
stuff that sucks. As of this post, it’s
2017. Media consumption is easier than
it’s ever been thanks to various technological advents -- and it’ll only get
easier from here. Creators and audiences
alike should have an idea by now of
what works and what doesn’t. What’s good
and what’s bad. What’s appreciable and
what’s unacceptable. Audiences should be
able -- if not willing -- to call out fouls in a product. But they shouldn’t have to reach that point
in the first place, because good content creators should have the skill to
avoid some of their respective media’s worst vices.

That’s how it should be. Except it isn’t. Valkyria
Revolution is proof of that.

August 21, 2017

Would it enhance or reduce my credibility right out
of the gate if I admitted that I haven’t watched an episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead in years? Probably reduce, but at least you’ll know
where I’m coming from here.

I used to watch the show every Sunday, but in all
honesty, I came in late. I didn’t see a
single episode of the show until somewhere in the midst of Season 2 -- and from
what I can gather I chose a hell of a starting point. Farm life without amenities! People arguing! Sometimes there’s a zombie! People arguing! Friendly fire! People arguing! Incredibly poor choices! People arguing! Now there’s a bunch of zombies! People arguing! So yeah, I can’t say that I had the best
impression of the show, but I stuck with it.
I’ll get into why I dropped it in a little bit, but for now I’ll switch
gears.

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably well
aware of how much zombie fiction has dominated the landscape -- up to and
including that long since
established holy bastion of artistry, video games. But the times, they are a changin’. So that makes me wonder: have we reached peak
saturation with zombies? Are they on
their way out, having done their duty across all forms of media?

Uh, probably not.
But work with me here -- even if Sony and SIE Bend Studio won’t.

August 17, 2017

Okay. So the
last post dealt primarily with the gameplay of Valkyria Revolution -- and true to this series’ title, it’s
bad. Stunningly bad. As I said, not a single choice made was the
right one. Combat is slow, strategy is
nonexistent, AI is worthless; the list goes on and on. (Boy that upgrade system is borked.) It’s unpleasant from start to finish. At least, I assume that’s the case -- because
I tapped out after seven hours with the game, and didn’t even make it to the
halfway point according to the built-in table of contents. I’m not too broken up about it, because that
means I get to put more time into learning some new fighting game
characters. (Why didn’t anyone tell me Dizzy was so cool?)

I can still think of a few questions that need
asking and answering, though. Since this
is a video game we’re talking about, gameplay is king. Well, I assume as much among the general
gaming populace. Can good gameplay
compensate for a bad story? Essentially. Tekken
7’s story is not great, but I
don’t begrudge it when it lets me land a juggle combo into a Rage Art. Can a good story save a bad game? Possibly.
That answer will vary between people and games, especially depending on
the length. But as far as I’m concerned,
there’s one ironclad rule at play here: you can’t have a game with both bad gameplay AND a bad story.

August 14, 2017

You know, sometimes it seems like whenever I do
these “So How Good is [X], Really?” posts, the title implies that I’m
questioning the quality of X. And
technically, I guess I am. But don’t
worry about it. I don’t mean any ill
will, or to make it sound like X is worse than you think it is.

That’s definitely the case with Fire Emblem, at least for me. I think that it’s pretty good. Sooooooooooooooooooo…I guess I just summed up
this post in a couple of paragraphs? That’s a new record. Okay, time to pack it up and go home. See you guys later. Go watch some EVO footage or whatever. It’s got Tekken
7. And I know how much you love
being on the receiving end of Paul’s death fist.

August 10, 2017

Even though I’m making a casual reference to the
ill-fated Power Glove, don’t get the wrong idea. I have no love for Valkyria Revolution. It’s a
bad game, and you should do what you can to avoid it. In fact, my biggest take away from it is that
I should go back and play Valkyria
Chronicles 1. I just might when
all’s said and done.

With that said?
Valkyria Revolution isn’t just
bad. It’s fascinatingly bad. And I
guess it’s up to me to explain why.

August 7, 2017

I just love how this series’ title has taken on a
whole new meaning with the reveal of two
new dancing spinoffs for the Persona franchise. On that note?
Hard to believe that there are two instead of just one, but I’m down for
it. Seeing the Phantom Thieves bust a
move put a smile on my face, especially when Ryuji and Ann dropped in to pop
and lock.

Oh, by the way, Ann’s my Persona 5 waifu. That
wasobviousweeks
ago, but you know. Might as well
make it official, eh? Let’s discuss why
-- WITH ULTIMATE
SPOILERS. But first…

August 3, 2017

Are there enough moments from How I Met Your Mother over the years to have clips for any given
situation? Maybe. It’s probably not as versatile as, say, The Simpsons, but I’d like to think that
it’ll do in a pinch. Like this
pinch. Via this clip.

…I will do whatever I can to keep the memory of How I Met Your Mother alive. I know it ended and all with a full-on finale
-- which is a luxury not every TV show out there can afford -- but still. I miss it so much. Thank all the gods for reruns.

Anyway, let’s talk about charts. And reviews.
And review scores. And hastily
made JPEGs.